8THERE WAS SOMETHING dismal about Ferdinand. I couldn’t pinpoint it back then because he always sauntered down the halls as if he knew he was going to inherit an empire.
I’ve never actually seen him in any fistfights or shouting matches. There were drug tests where teachers would call some students out of their classrooms. Always hush-hushed, but word
traveled faster in an expensive small village where people had more time to idly chatter in cocktail parties and Bible Study groups. The few times I saw him wait outside Mr. Richardson’s
office, he always had this vacant expression on his face. No fidgeting, no creases on his brow, no sign that he knew he was in trouble. He looked like he had accepted the frequent trips to the
principal’s office as a fact of life.
He was always calm and
